Don’t Period.

It was a busy Thursday night at Daves Taverna Downtown, and I couldn’t figure out how to get my purse. I was hosting on the Taratsa, our outdoor patio, and I really needed to change my tampon. As much as I love Daves, I wasn’t willing to go into toxic shock syndrome for my job, so I radioed my downstairs host and asked him to bring my purse on his next trip up the stairs.

He appeared shortly thereafter, minus my purse. “What the fuck dude?” I asked.

“I couldn’t figure out how to get it up here with no one seeing,” he replied.

When I finally made it down the stairs, I tried to explain why I needed his help. He has sisters, so I thought he would understand.

“I really needed a tampon,” I pressed. “Couldn’t you help me out?”

“Oh my god!” He doubled over, grabbing his stomach. “That is so GROSS.”

“Oh my god.” I replied. “What am I supposed to do?”

 “Easy,” was his answer. “Don’t period.”

Don’t period? Easy? Easy for you to say! Girls don’t enjoy menstruating, although I personally always try to look on the bright side. My mom got pregnant with me when she was nineteen, a fact I never fail to remind my friends. I mean what’s worse, having your period or not having it?

Of course, periods do always seem to come at the most inopportune time. I started taking the pill in high school to combat endometriosis, and quickly realized I could skip the sugar pills at the end of the pack to skip my period. I mean, who wants to be menstruating during summer camp? According to NetDoctor.com, the practice is common. Dr David Delvin said, “The Pill is very useful if you want to delay having a period for a special occasion, such as a holiday. By taking two packets back-to-back without a week’s break you can avoid having your period at an inconvenient time.

With the development of continuous oral contraceptives like Yaz and Seasonale, the practice of suppressing one’s period has become even more popular. While Yaz shortens menstruation from one week to four days, Seasonale provides the convenience of having only four periods a year. Other contraceptive methods, such as implants in the arm or uterus are more expensive, but after a few months, menstruation becomes very light and often non-existent.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven! When I don’t have a period, I’m in heaven!

When I told my mom I had skipped my period for camp she was not pleased.

“It can’t be good Hannah!” she insisted. “You have to have your period!”

Like many women, I guess my mom was confused about what a period while taking the pill actually is, which is not considered a ‘real period.’ What we pill takers experience as our period is not the shedding of the uterus, but ‘withdraw bleeding.’ The blood itself it is caused by hormone changes, not a monthly cycle. Although the drugs are new enough that there are few long term users, there is (so far) no proven physical harm from suppressing one’s period.

No physical harm – but lately I have come to sense a real fear from men regarding menstruation, and I have to ask myself, are these wonder drugs for our benefit or theirs? The dominant messages in the media seem to be concentrated in either encouraging women to get rid of their pesky periods via advertising or showing how gross menstruation is (think Superbad, “You used my leg as a tampon!”). Positive messages are so non-existent that the silence has become a form of oppression. We women bleed once a month for a majority of our lives, yet no one is talking about it.

Can you imagine if Elaine walked into Jerry’s kitchen and announced to Kramer and the gang that her period was giving her cramps? What if Rachel, Monica, and Phoebe discussed their cycles being simultaneous? If Summer told Seth her period was late? (O.C. guys, watch up) It never happens, and if it did, Joel McHale would make fun of it on The Soup.

                                      “I’m so glad we bleed together guys!”

And did you know they took the tampon machines out of Carrier Library? At first there were baskets with feminine products on bathroom counters, but I guess people were jacking pads because those are gone. Now you have to ask a librarian. My friend (and fellow blogger) found herself in a desperate situation one day and made her way to the reference desk. The woman handed her a tampon like it was a hand grenade that might explode at any moment. And believe me, this girl does not care if someone sees her tampon. She would carry it like a flag on the Quad if it would help inspire feminism in any way.

It seems like everyone, from the media to the JMU librarians, want us to keep our period a secret. Shhhh, I’m bleeding. If men were bleeding from the tip of their dick (sorry to be so blunt) would they remain quiet about it? Something tells me no, and in her 1978 article “If Men Could Menstruate,” Gloria Steinem agrees. She explains that the act of menstruating has very little to do with the hostility associated with it. “The characteristics of the powerful, whatever they may be, are thought to be better than the characteristics of the powerless – and logic has nothing to do with it.” Since men are in power they are able to disdain our monthly cycles, but Steinem argues if men could menstruate and women could not, “Men would brag about how long and how much. Boys would mark the onset of menses, the longed-for proof of manhood, with religious ritual and stag parties.”

Judging from what I have observed about men, I am inclined to agree with Steinem. However, just because dominant culture may prefer the period-less women, that doesn’t mean that we can’t (or can) choose to be her. I am guilty of skipping my cycle for convenience sake, but for the most part I choose to bleed. It is a part of who I am, and nothing to be ashamed of. My body can make babies, and I think that is pretty cool – as is the fact that my body knows to bleed at the same time as the women I am close to. Every month our biology reminds us that we are a sisterhood. So to bleed or not to bleed, that is the question. Just make sure the answer is your own.